When John Asbury Murphy was born on 3 March 1850, in Missouri, United States, his father, Thomas Languard Murphy, was 23 and his mother, Eliza Heart, was 21. He married Martha Jane White on 12 May 1884. They were the parents of at least 4 sons and 2 daughters. He lived in Roswell, Chaves, New Mexico Territory, United States in 1910 and Ward Six, Washington, Louisiana, United States in 1920. He died on 28 September 1927, in Washington, Louisiana, United States, at the age of 77, and was buried in Smith Cemetery, Washington, Louisiana, United States.